New pork ad campaigns to ‘feed the family for less’

A new pork advertising campaign by the AHDB has been rolled out with an aim to ‘feed the family for less’ as the cost-of-living crisis continues.

As consumer demand for affordable meals grows, the levy organisation’s autumn pork marketing campaign launches with new messaging, running from 17 October until 25 November 2022.

The adverts aim to encourage the public to back farmers by purchasing economical cuts of pork to create everyday, affordable dishes.

The campaign, which has been running for six years, also aims to raise awareness of pork’s positive role in healthy meal choices during the current cost-of-living crisis.

New recipes included in the campaign will feed a family of four for under £5, the AHDB says, with some recipes costing less than £1 per person using pork cuts such as the shoulder, sausages, and lean mince.

Consumers will see the adverts online, across social media, during on-demand TV shows, in the aisles and websites of eight supermarket chains.

 

by Farming UK

China’s Inflation Rate Hits Two-year High

The National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS) released official data on Friday indicating that China’s consumer inflation touched a two-year high in September.
This was driven by rising pork prices and inclement weather’s impact on China’s farmers.
The nation’s consumer price index (CPI), which serves as the primary barometer for retail inflation, reached 2.8 percent in September, up from 2.5 percent in August. The figure is the highest since April 2020, when the nation only began recovering from its initial round of Covid-19 lockdowns. It also follows weeks of record temperatures above 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), China’s hottest summer, resulting in a devastating drought in August.
According to the NBS, the price of pork, which is the most popular meat in China, has increased by 36 percent. In recent months, the Chinese government has made many draws from its pork stockpiles in response to rising prices, raising fears about inflation.

GB pig prices for week ending October 8 – SPP inches up again

Weekly pig prices, slaughter data for Great Britain

The EU-spec GB SPP continued moving in the right direction in the week ended October 8, inching up by 0.18p to reach 200.55p/kg.

This is the second successive weekly increase, following the reverse in the week ended September 24 and means the SPP has risen by less than 0.6p over the past four weeks as the upward trajectory slows, and means the index is 44p on a year ago.

The APP was back up by nearly a penny, 0.9p, for the week ended October 1. At 203.57p/kg, the gap between it and the SPP was just 3.2p.

The context is, of course, that average prices remain below average costs, estimated by AHDB at 221p/kg for August.

The EU price is critical to the UK market and the large gulf between the UK and EU prices over the summer has contributed to increased volumes of pork imports. As EU prices have risen that gap has closed in recent weeks.

For the week ending October 2, the EU Reference stood at just short of 187p/kg, compared with a UK reference price of 200.7p/kg, the gap of under 14p comparing with more than 30p at some points in August. However, the rise in EU prices has stalled, with some key producers recording falls in recent weeks.

 

Pig World / AHDB

GB pig prices for week ending October 1, 2022

AHDB Pork’s weekly pig prices, slaughter data for Great Britain

The EU-spec GB SPP increased by 0.36p to reach 200.37p/kg for the week ended October 1, following the previous week’s 0.21 backward step, the first since February.

The previous week’s reverse was from a relatively small sample due to the bank holiday held for the Queen’s funeral. Pig producers will be hoping the return to an upward trend is a sign of things to come, with average costs – estimated by AHDB at 221p/kg for August – still above average prices, and many businesses continuing to lose money on a weekly basis.

Recent market reports have been of ‘flat demand’ for British pork products, as trade data shows a substantial increase in pork imports during the first seven months of this year.

There was a big weekly drop in estimated clean pig slaughterings, reflecting the extra bank holiday last week, as the Queen’s funeral was held.

The APP was down by nearly a penny for the week ended September 24. At 202.68p/kg, the gap between it and the SPP was just 2.67p.

The gap between the EU and domestic prices is key in terms of the UK pig market outlook. In the week ended September 25, the EU reference price was 185.46, following steady increases since mid-August on the back of tighter EU supplies. This narrowed the gap to the UK price to just over 14p, compared with more than 30, not many weeks ago.

 

AHDB / Pig World

Pig prices pass landmark £2/kg

The EU-spec SPP has passed the £2 per kg mark, but the rate of increase is slowing and prices are still well below costs of production.

The SPP averaged 200.22p/kg in the week ending 16 September, up 0.3p from the previous week – the smallest increase since early March.

However, pig prices still fall short of the estimated cost of production, calculated at 223p per kg for August.

The sector is seeing surging energy and grain costs, as well as challenging post-Brexit staffing issues.

While the National Pig Association (NPA) welcomed the latest increase, it warned that the rate of progress was slowing.

“The SPP has finally hit £2/kg, rising by 0.3p to 200.22p/kg last week,” the body said.

“While the landmark is welcome, the pace of upward movement is slowing markedly.

“On average, prices remain below cost of production, estimated by AHDB at 221p/kg for August.”

 

 

by FarmingUK 

 

Public told to buy British to ‘save’ pig sector

Consumers and retailers must back British as the long-running pig sector crisis continues to take its toll on farms across the country, the National Pig Association (NPA) has said.

The body today (13 September) warned that there could be a reduced choice of favourite British pork products over the Christmas festive period ‘unless things change rapidly’.

Recent figures from AHDB showed pig producers lost, on average, an unsustainable £52/pig in the second quarter of this year, following losses of £59/pig in Q1.

After seven successive quarters of negative margins, producers have lost, collectively, £600 million since the autumn of 2020, AHDB estimates.

The financial woes are continuing through this quarter, the NPA warned, as rising pig prices have failed to keep pace with soaring feed and energy costs.

Meanwhile, Defra’s June Agricultural census showed a massive 17% reduction in the English pig breeding herd, which industry data suggests is mirrored on a UK-wide basis.

The situation has also been exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, leading to increased input costs, including feed, fuel, energy, and fertiliser.

 

Responding to the threats, NPA chief executive Lizzie Wilson said shortages of pork products at Christmas would leave the supply chain more reliant on EU imports.

 

“Pork is still very competitively priced and so provides excellent value for money when budgets are increasingly being squeezed.”

by Farming UK

Call to deem food production as ‘vulnerable’ amid surging energy costs

Hard-pressed farming businesses are to be included in new measures to address soaring energy costs, but calls have been made for the government to go further and deem food production as ‘vulnerable’.

Businesses will get help with surging energy bills, with prices capped for six months, a smaller period of protection than many had asked for.

The support, announced by the new Prime Minister Liz Truss, will be made available for businesses in England, Wales and Scotland, with equivalent assistance for Northern Ireland.

The scheme will be in place for six months and will be reviewed in three month’s time “to consider where this should be targeted to make sure those most in need get support”.

When the review comes, farming and agri-food businesses must be considered as ‘vulnerable’, NFU Scotland has said, with an extended energy cost cap going beyond the proposed six months.

The union’s survey on electricity prices closed this week after 110 farming businesses shared their details on their rates and tariffs.

From a business perspective, nine out of ten farmers who replied were previously paying less than 20p per kWh for their electricity and are now having to deal with renewal rates and quotes coming in at up to 92p per kWh.

For some businesses, that has increased bill by tens of thousands, threatening their livelihoods.

 

By Farming UK

 

British pigs in blankets scarce this Christmas as UK pork industry shrinks 20pc in a year

Shoppers looking for British pigs in blankets and locally reared gammon to serve this Christmas may be forced to buy EU meat instead, the industry has warned.

Supermarkets will be stocking less British meat this winter, after higher feed prices forced farmers to rear fewer animals.

The shortfall will show up over Christmas, which is traditionally the busiest period for pork demand, as people stock up on gammons, pigs in blankets and stuffing for the festive period.

Official estimates suggest there has been a significant drop-off in Britain’s breeding pig herd, down by almost 20pc on last year by June. The numbers are expected to have fallen even further since, as farmers face spiralling costs in energy and animal feed.

Lizzie Wilson, chief executive of the National Pig Association, warned that this meant there was “a hole in supply coming”, meaning shoppers were likely to see less choice for British cuts on supermarket shelves.

“Up until this point, retailers have been really good at buying British pork,” she said. “However, they can’t ignore the fact that EU imported pig meat is significantly cheaper than British.”

The UK is already importing more pig meat from Spain and Belgium as the cost of domestic supply climbs, Ms Wilson warned.

With fewer pigs coming through the system and the sow herd at the smallest it has been in 20 years, “we are definitely going to see less British pork available”, Ms Wilson added.

 

 

China battles ‘porkflation’ as price of popular meat soars

SHANGHAI — China’s pork prices surged again in August, as the government dips into national reserves to stabilize costs and ensure supply in the world’s biggest consuming nation of the meat.

The country’s headline consumer price index (CPI) slowed in August to 2.5%, according to official data Friday, while producer inflation eased to its lowest level in 18 months at 2.3% — far lower than in the U.S., U.K. and other nations battling decades-high inflation rates.

But the price of pork, a staple in China that is used in a wide variety of dishes, has bucked the trend by surging in recent months with average prices jumping 22.5% on-year in August after a 20.2% jump in July as output reductions squeezed supply.

Pork has the heaviest weighting among foodstuffs in China’s CPI.

The fresh data came after the government this week said it was dipping into frozen pork reserves for the first time this year in a bid to rein in prices as China gears up for this weekend’s Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day on Oct. 1.

But Chinese pork traders warned that the release of more frozen supply may not help much.

“Most of our customers prefer fresh pork to frozen pork,” said one seller in Shanghai. “Customers these days are buying less than before the lockdown in April because household incomes are flat and pork prices are rising,” he added, referring to a two-month COVID-19 lockdown in China’s financial capital earlier this year.

The government intervention was likely to ease supply concerns only in the short term, said Deng Shaorui, an analyst at Huatai Securities.

“Pork prices are going to stay at high levels,” Deng was quoted as saying by the Shenzhen Securities Times on Friday. “As the weather cooled and pork consumption recovered seasonally, demand is expected to grow ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays.”

 

By CK TAN / Nikkei Asia

Pig producers lost £52/pig in Q2

Average pig production losses have topped £50 per head for the second successive quarter, as soaring costs continue to cripple an industry that has now lost more than £600 million since the autumn of 2020, according to AHDB estimates.

The latest AHDB quarterly cost of production and margin estimations for Q2 show producers lost, on average, £52/pig (58p/kg) in Q2, following losses of £58/pig in Q1 and £39/pig in Q4 2021, meaning producers have now endured seven successive quarters of negative margins.

While the average pig price rose rapidly, from 146p/kg in Q1 to 183p/kg in Q2, so did average costs, as the impact of the Ukraine war on cereal prices hit home. COP averaged 240p/kg over the quarter, up 33p on Q1, 58p on Q2 2021 and 85p on Q2 2020.

This was primarily driven by a further 27p hike in feed costs to 174p/kg, with labour, energy, fuel, interest rates and falling cull sow prices accounting for some of the other cost increases, with decreasing carcase weights also a factor.

The estimates use the latest performance figures for breeding and finishing herds for the 12 months ending June 30, 2022.

“With pig producers experiencing continued negative margins since October 2020, it is estimated (based on the total pig slaughter numbers) that the industry has lost over £600m since October 2020 to the end of June 2022,” AHDB analysts Carol Davis said.

Numerous producers have already been forced to quit, and many more have reduced their sow herds, as reflected in the June Defra Agricultural Survey, which shows a 17% year-on-year decline in the breeding herd. This is expected to result in a large shortage over the late-autumn and winter.

 

 

By Alistair Driver / Pig world

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